The Carbuncle Cup is the Razzies of the architecture world, annually crowning ‘the ugliest new building in the United Kingdom’.
Since it launched in 2006, its judges have granted the undesired prize to iconic structures like London’s ‘Walkie-Talkie’ and Salford’s MediaCity.
And now, after being resurrected following a six-year hiatus, the awards have returned to bestow the title on a brand new eyesore.
Organiser the Fence magazine announced Liverpool Lime Street’s redevelopment as the winner of the Carbuncle Cup 2024, with seven industry-leading judges ‘in total agreement’ over the decision.
The 11-storey block, designed by Broadway Malyan and delivered by ISG, cost £49 million and took around four years to build. Completed in 2019, the block beside the busy railway station features five ground-floor retail units, 412 student beds and a 101-room hotel.
Yet its construction has been controversial from the start, and SAVE Britain’s Heritage tried to block plans after they were approved in 2015, opposing landmarks like the 1912 neo-Georgian Futurist cinema being demolished to make way for it.
Although Lime Street’s transformation went ahead, designers opted for a façade of etched panels showing the buildings it replaced – a decision which didn’t sit well with Carbuncle Cup judges.
Architectural Record contributor and jury chair Tim Abrahams commented: ‘Sometimes, buildings need to be knocked down and replaced with better ones. This is the nature of dynamic, forward looking cities: things change. Here, though, a bunch of developers have been allowed to knock down a happy, eclectic row of buildings – including the much-loved, sorely-missed Futurist cinema – and replaced it with such nothingness.
‘Such banality that their only option is to cover it with a screen, upon which they have drawn portraits of those same old demolished buildings. Greed has rarely looked so greedy.’
The Liverpool project beat the W Hotel in Edinburgh, Virgin Hotel in Glasgow, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Mast Quay II housing development in Woolwich and Ilona Rose House in London to the ‘winning’ spot.
The Fence said in its announcement: ‘Entries were assessed not only for their design flaws and lack of utility, but also for their wastefulness in construction, their impact on the urban environment around them – and, of course, their hideousness.’
Many on social media agreed with the choice of winner, including X user @BarnabasCalder who said: ‘Bang on! One of the worst redevelopments I have ever seen. Truly repulsive.’
Another angry Liverpudlian, @bergersmicer, wrote: ‘Whoever signed off this absolute insult to our heritage should be deported to Manchester! They left an etching of what they destroyed on the stupid metal fascia to remind everyone of what was lost… FFS.’
There were some who felt it was a welcome change, though.
‘The new building looks better, will be more energy efficient and be more accessible,’ said @ShakeyStephens, while @MaccaLiv19 added: ‘Think the new design is pretty smart and is different to anything else in the centre, which is hard to do these days.’
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